Lessons in Seeing
by kuvira
Summary: Toph gives Lin an earthbending lesson unlike any she's ever taught before.


Just a small oneshot that I made in school today when I should have been working. I thought it was worth sharing...Hope you enjoy!

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><p>Toph sat next to the radiator in the livingroom. Her eyes were closed and her hands rested on her knees. She deeply inhaled, and held her back up straight.<p>

Lin was seated across from her mother, back slouched and one eye cracked open. She reached towards the coffee table to grab a hard candy from the glass bowl.

"Lin."

She placed her arm back into her lap and sighed. "I don't understand what I'm supposed to be doing."

"Listen." Toph spoke with an even, relaxed tone.

"It's too dark."

"It's supposed to be."

"Can't you teach Su first?"

"She's two years old."

Lin dropped her head to the floor, right over her crossed legs. "I can't do this anymore!"

"Shhh…" Toph placed her right hand on Lin's head. "Sit up. This is a cool lesson."

Lin sat up and leaned her body against the warm radiator. "Mmm…."

"You're making this so hard for me."

"You're making this hard for _me!"_

There was a roar of thunder which caused Lin to sit up. "Woah."

"Toph cracked a smile and patted on the floor in front of her. "Sit right."

Lin copied Toph's position and closed her eyes. She inhaled and sat up with perfect posture.

"Listen and try to guess when the next one will come."

"Is it a pattern?"

"Everything is a pattern."

"Show me." Lin challenged with a sneaky grin.

"Sure." Toph paused for seven seconds, "Now".

Another roll of thunder roared, sending a vibration through the floor.

Toph upturned the right corner of her lips.

"Mama, you're amazing."

She nodded slowly then touched her right ear. "They key is listening…" She paused for twelve seconds, "and waiting." There was another roar.

"Let me try."

Toph was silent.

Lin counted to ten in her head, "Now!" She pounded on the floor.

Toph waited then raised her finger to the bay window. "Now."

Another roar.

Lin sulked. "I don't understand how you're doing that."

Toph rested her palms on the floor and stood up. "Come on."

"Come where?"

"I have an idea." She held out her hand.

Lin grabbed it and pulled herself up.

Toph lead her out through the back sliding doors and into the pouring rain. "Sit on the grass."

"...Mom..."

"Let's go." She walked out into the grass and reassumed her position.

Lin apprehensively followed her mother and sat down in front of her.

"When you hear the next strike, we're going to count together until the next one."

"What if we get struck by lightning?"

"The storm is too far away. We'll be fine."

Lin nodded.

There was a crack of lightning.

"One...two...three…" Toph began aloud.

Lin opened her eyes and then closed them. She counted with her mother. "four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...ten...eleven...twelve...thirteen...fourteen...fifteen...sixtee...seventeen...eighteen."

Another crack echoed through the sky.

Lin grinned wide. "Mama! Eighteen seconds!"

Toph smiled. "Now count in your head after the next one."

Lin repositioned herself excitedly and counted, bouncing her body with each beat. "Now."

There was another strike.

Toph beamed.

Lin crawled over to her mother and hugged her with wet and muddied hands.

Toph hugged her back. "Do you know why I made you do this?"

Lin shook her head and slid back into her spot.

"Because what you did is exactly what my earthbending is."

Lin listened.

"I can't see so I need to feel, listen, and count to know what's going on around me." She wiped the rain from her eyes and continued, "it's important to me that you know how to do this because it will put you at an advantage over other benders. You'll always be one step ahead because you'll be able to anticipate their next move before they have the chance to do it. Everything has a rhythm." She placed two fingers under the right side of her jaw. "Feel your heartbeat."

Lin obeyed.

"What is it saying."

Lin hesitated.

"Tell me."

"Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum…" Lin chanted under her breath..

"Take your fingers off."

Lin removed her fingers.

"Tell me what it's saying right now."

"...Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum…"

Toph bobbed her head with each of Lin's 'Ba-dum's'. "Put your fingers back on."

She did.

"What is your heart saying?"

Lin smiled. "Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum."

Toph nodded approvingly. "Good."

"So, if the inside of us has a pattern, then the outside will too?"

"Mhm. And so will the earth."

"Wow."

"Wow." Toph repeated, mocking Lin.

"Can we have a mud fight?"

"Hm...you did a really good job today. I was planning on teaching you how to see, but I guess that can wait."

Lin perked up, "See? What do you mean?"

Toph wiggled her toes.

Lin gasped. "Teach, me please!" She clasped her hands together and intertwined her fingers at her chest.

Toph rose from the mud "Okay. Stand up."

Lin stood up.

Toph removed her green waist-wrap and tied it around Lin's head, creating a blindfold. She grabbed Lin's hand and stood close so their sides were touching. "Okay. What I want you to do is focus your energy into your feet."

"Um...how do I do that?"

"Don't think about your eyes."

"That's not helping, Mama."

"Okay." Toph began to walk with Lin slowly around the yard. "When I was really little, I ran away from home and encountered these huge creatures called Badgermoles."

Lin gasped. "Is that why you call me Little Badgermole?"

Toph smiled. "Yep. They changed my life."

"Keep going." Lin was holding onto her mother's hand and she felt the mud seep in between her toes as she walked.

"I had learned about Earth Kingdom animals before, so I knew they were blind and somehow they knew I was also. We were able to bond that way and they protected me. They would guide me to do these movements, and I found out they were actually teaching me to earthbend. I started to move like them by feeling the vibrations in the earth. Listening, feeling, counting, then making moves."

"How did you do that?" Lin squeezed her mother's hand for support, beginning to lose her balance in the slippery grass.

Toph stabilized her. "You're okay, I got you. Keep walking."

Lin continued to walk slowly through the mud.

"I hated being blind. I would run into things, I would trip, it was just really hard for me. I was always trying to make my eyes work. I'd strain them until they started to hurt and I'd get a headache. The Badgermoles taught me to focus that energy into my hands and feet, and before long I was able to see everything around me without even trying. It was as simple to me as seeing is to you."

"Mama...I don't think I'll ever be able to see as well as you."

"Maybe not, but we can try."

Lin had her eyes squeezed shut and she stood still. "I'm gonna try."

Toph stopped walking and dropped her hand.

Lin took a deep breath and stomped her left foot onto the ground.

"Concentrate on your feet." Toph directed.

Lin placed her wet hair behind her ears, took another breath, and stomped once more.

Toph tiptoed quietly to the other side of the yard.

Lin remained in her stance, left leg stretched forward with her arms bent at her sides. She raised her head and pointed her right arm behind her.

"Yes!" Toph jumped. She squatted down and shoved two fists forwards, sending a wave of mud and grass towards Lin.

Lin turned around and held her left arm out defensively, causing the mud to splatter around her, missing her body.

Toph grinned. "That's my girl." She jumped and spun once in the air and landed with her right hand in the mud and her body perpendicular to it. She closed her fist and hardened the earth around her hand. "Get ready."

Lin held her the backs of her hands towards her mother and buckled her knees. She nodded.

Toph arched her back and swung her legs behind her. She swiped her arm forward from the ground, forcing jagged rock in Lin's direction.

"Ah!" Lin panicked and tore off the blindfold. She sprinted away from the rock swarm and stumbled to the other side of the yard.

Toph clenched her left fist, crumbling the airborne rocks. She stomped through the mud and over to Lin. "You did so well."

"I ran away…"

"It was your first time." Toph began to adjust her wet, lopsided bun. "Tell me what you saw."

"I didn't feel like I was seeing. I just felt the ground change. I knew you were behind me because there was pressure behind me that wasn't there before."

"You're really special, you know that?" Toph rested her right hand on her hip.

Lin's cheeks blushed, "I am?"

Toph nodded. "You are. I didn't expect you to pick up the basics so quickly. Soon you'll be able to feel everything."

Lin rubbed her left arm. "Can we have some tea first?"

Toph snickered, "Yeah."

They headed towards the back door together as the rain stopped.

Toph socked Lin in the left shoulder, "I made a pretty cool kid, didn't I?"

Lin jumped up and grabbed Toph's right shoulder, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Wha-!?" Toph fell over, landing in a mud puddle.

Lin cracked up laughing.

Toph lifted her up and slammed her into the mud, "You think that's funny, mud slug?"

Lin tackled her mother into the mud, "No, I think it's hilarious!"

Toph sat up and rested her elbows on her bent knees. "If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get."

"Bring it."

Sokka walked out from the back door carrying Suyin. "Hey, guys I just cooked lun-" He stopped and covered Su's eyes. "Am I intruding?"

Toph had Lin in a headlock.

Lin looked over towards Sokka. "Hey!" She waved.

Su wiggled free from Sokka's grasp and ran over to the puddle.

Toph released her grip on Lin and snatched Su. She turned her head towards Lin and grinned sinisterly.

"You wanna play with us, baby?" Toph nibbled on Su's cheek, smearing mud on her chin.

"Ya." Su replied.

Lin dipped her index finger into the mud and drew a smiley face on Su's cheek. "Uncle Sokka!" She waved him over.

Sokka grimaced and shook his head, he pointed to his "kiss the cook" apron. "Not on the apron!"

Toph placed Su in the puddle and ran over to him.

"No, Toph I mean it!" He started to run.

Toph slid, set her right leg in front of her body and pointed a fist at Sokka, causing the mud to harden around his feet.

"Wha!?" He looked around and began to sweat frantically.

Toph prowled over.

"Please, don't…" He begged.

She embraced him and kissed his lips.

His panicked expression faded into one of satisfaction.

She pulled away, held her hands behind her back and bounced on the balls of her feet.

With rosy cheeks he pointed back to the house. "I made...lunch...if you guys were hungry?"

"Food?" Su turned her head around towards her parents.

Lin raised her head from the mud and placed her right hand on Su's belly.

Su pushed her head back down and climbed off of her stomach. She waddled back over to Toph and Sokka.

Toph held her hand to her mouth and chuckled.

Sokka looked at Su horrified. "You need twenty baths!"

Su rubbed her body all over Sokka and laughed.

"Lin learned how to see." Toph announced proudly.

Sokka's jaw dropped. "No way!" He turned to Lin who was still laying in the puddle. "Way to go, lady!"

She held up a 'thumbs up' sign and plopped her arm back down

"Food?" Su looked back up at Sokka.

He nodded. "Lin! Time to eat, let's go."

Lin dragged her body from the mud and threw her arms down, bending it all off.

Toph did the same.

She walked over, "What did you make?"

Sokka grinned. "Your favorite."

"Roast turtleduck?"

He nodded.

"Heck yeah!" She ran into the house.

"Heck yeah!" Su copied and followed her big sister.

Sokka stood with Toph and scoped around. "You guys destroyed the yard."

Toph placed a hand on his shoulder, "All in a day's work." She walked into the house.

Sokka cracked a smile and followed.


End file.
